Raymond Vallejo v. M. McDonald

MEMORANDUM

Petitioner-Appellant Raymond Vallejo (Vallejo) appeals the district court’s denial of his habeas petition. Following a jury trial, Vallejo was convicted of first degree murder as an aider and abettor. Vallejo asserts that the prosecution presented insufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict.

The California Supreme Court reasonably determined that a rational jury could conclude, based on the facts of the case, that the murder of Eddie Barba was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the preceding gang fight. See People v. Prettyman, 14 Cal.4th 248 , 58 Cal.Rptr.2d 827 , 926 P.2d 1013, 1020 (1996) (“An aider and abettor is liable not only for the offense he intended to facilitate .,., but also of any reasonably foreseeable offense committed by the person he aids and abets.... ”). A petitioner challenging a conviction for insufficient evidence is entitled to habeas relief only if, when viewing the record in a light most favorable to the prosecution, “no rational trier of fact could have found proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 324 , 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

The jury implicitly found that Vallejo should have known…